A True Marriage
by xxLouisexx
Summary: Bella Swan was live on air when she asked, "Jake, will you marry me?"     "I'm sorry..." he told her. Surely the humiliation alone will kill her, before she does anything drastic?   AH/AU


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_Breath Bella!_

You can do this!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

What the heck am I doing here? And more importantly how do I let Alice talk me into these things?

I clutched at my hair encountering the numerous pins that had been placed in it and sighed heavily, drawing my hands back down and placing them on the side in front of me. The marble felt cool against my sweaty palms and I reluctantly drew my gaze up to the large mirror in front of me, taking in my pale complexion, large brown eyes with the ever present black bags underneath them. To be honest I didn't really recognise myself considering how much make up had been put on me just moments before by the studio's make up artist. My hair had been pinned up elegantly with pearl pins and a few curls had been artfully arranged around my face. This was not me. I never wore make up (unless Alice wanted to play Bella Barbie) and my hair was either thrown into a ponytail or left loose.

And the dress!

I felt like a kid playing dress up in her mothers clothes. There was no denying it was beautiful, pure white, ankle length silk that fell from my collar bone, but I wasn't ready to be here, wasn't ready to take this step. Especially in front of millions of viewers and so here I was hiding in the ladies bathroom of Cullen Studio's, trying to think of a way to escape.

And it was all Alice's fault!

"Come on Bella, they're willing to pay for everything, the dress, the flowers….." she had started.

"No,"

"But Bella…." she continued to whine, "don't you want to get married? Aren't you always saying that you can't get married yet because you can't afford it?"

"Alice you're asking me to propose to Jake, live on air and get married there and then," I complained to her, "what on earth would make you think I would do something like that?"

"Because I already signed you up for this new show and so you have to do this with me," she pouted, "we can get married together, like we always planned Bella."

"I…what if Jake doesn't want to get married?"

"He proposed to you Bella," she stated, "of course he wants to get married."

"That was three years ago Alice! I…."

"Of course he still wants to marry you, he loves you….."

My mind drifted back to the present, to the fact that I, Bella Swan, was about to ask Jake to marry me live on air. And I knew I couldn't do it. As far as Jake was concerned we were here to enter a TV contest to win money, he had no clue about what was going on, the same as Alice's fiancé Jasper believed. Jake had willingly taken a day off work from the garage to be here, a first as he rarely took time off, and I could not help but think that he would be annoyed with me.

Jake and I had been together for as long as I could remember, we grew up as best friends in the tiny town of Forks and had dated since high school and so there was no doubt in my mind that we would one day get married, but Jakes excuse had been money for a very long time and this was the only thing that motivated me to say yes to Alice's insane idea.

I didn't know why I thought I could possibly do this. I hate attention of any kind and this would surely bring me a lot of attention. All eyes would be on me. I gasped at the thought as my breaths started coming in small pants, panic had truly started to set in now.

I couldn't do this…..I had to get away and with that thought I bolted out of the bathroom and ran down the corridor with no idea where the exit was.

"Could Isabella Swan please return to make up," I heard coming from one of the speakers on the wall, "now!"

Crap!

I lifted up my dress and ran for the first open door that I could find and slammed it closed behind me. Perhaps I could just hide out here until the show was finished, I thought.

Glancing around I noticed I was in a rather large office. A dark wood desk sat to one side an open lap top sitting on it, with several papers scattered around, the chair was turned away from it, facing the window. That was what caught my attention the most, the turned around chair and I slowly walked towards it, jumping when it spun round before I got there.

"I'm assuming by your attire that you must be Isabella Swan," came the smooth voice and I glanced up at the man sitting there, drawing in a sharp gasp as I did so. He was gorgeous, with messy bronze hair, emerald green eyes and a face that had you wanting to continually look at him. He was staring at me intently as I tried to recall what he asked me.

I nodded reluctantly, hoping that he wouldn't call someone to come and retrieve me.

"I…I didn't know anyone was in here," I confessed quietly.

"Come and sit down," he told me, gesturing to the chair the other side of the handed me a clean handkerchief as I did so and it was only then that I realised silent tears were running down my face.

"Would it help to talk?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Um…..I guess," I started and before I knew it I was pouring out the whole story, how Alice had entered me into this show because I had been engaged for three years, and how I really didn't want to be here….

"Do you want to marry….Jake was it?" he asked.

"I guess," I sighed, "Jake's always been a part of my life and I wouldn't know what to do without him there, I….he's been my rock when I needed him…."

"Do you love him?"

Did I?

Of course I did, Jake meant everything to me, but….

"Perhaps it's just a case of nerves setting in, I can assure you that that Leslie will ensure everything goes well," he told me.

Leslie? Oh, the host.

"Maybe," I sighed, "But what if…..what if Jake doesn't want to marry me?"

"Then he's an absolute fool," I was told, "Come, I'll walk back with you to the studio."

"Oh, but….."

"You love him," he stated, "Surely that will help you get through this?"

"Yeah, I'm sure it will," I sighed and reluctantly allowed him to help me from my seat, feeling tingles run through skin where our hands met causing me to frown. He whispered a 'good luck' to me as he walked away and I reluctantly entered the door he had left me in front of, still not knowing his name.

"Bella! Where have you been?" Alice demanded as soon as I walked back through the door, "Your make up is ruined, quick sit down and let them fix it, the show is starting in fifteen minutes."

The next thirty minutes passed in a blur as my make up was re-done and the host introduced the first bride. I watched as she proposed to her boyfriend of ten years and he happily accepted. They were married in a quiet moving ceremony that had me thinking that perhaps this wasn't such a bad idea.

"And next up we have Isabella Swan, all the way from Forks Washington. She's been together with her childhood sweetheart for nearly six years," Leslie introduced me as I quietly wondered what on earth I looked like. I bit my lip nervously as the cameras turned to focus on me and I answered the few questions that I was asked before Jake stepped out, his eyes seeking mine with a faint glint of humour until he noticed my dress. A slight frown creased his forehead, probably because he had never seen me in skirt before, let alone a dress.

I drew in a deep breath, "Jake," I spoke quietly, "Will you marry me?"

The silence was deafening and time seemed to slow as I waited for his reply.

"Bells…I'm sorry…" he whispered.

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_What?_

Did he say no?

Panic set in as I glanced around for help, my eyes finally settling on the man I had spoken to earlier. His gaze caught mine and I tried silently pleading with him to save me. I was just about to run when it happened, he stepped forward onto the set.

"Oh, Mr Cullen," the host began speaking to him but I tuned out the rest.

Mr Cullen? Cullen Studio's. It couldn't be a coincidence, could it?

"Isabella," he stated as he stepped in front of me, lifting my chin with his finger, "I think it's time we tell everyone the truth about us. You see, Isabella and I…..we fell in love and I'm the real person she's here to marry."

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_What the hell?  
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Ok, so this is my first story, I hope you like the prologue, please let me know what you think :)


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